


Once, There was a Child

by SatansDuck



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Bullying, Child Abuse, Death, Depression, F/M, Hurt No Comfort, I have Snape feels, Okay mild marauder bashing, Sadness, Slight marauder bashing, Suicidal Thoughts, Unrequited Love, War, depends on how you read it, no happy ending, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-10-13 18:10:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10519092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SatansDuck/pseuds/SatansDuck
Summary: There once was a child named Severus Tobias Snape.In the end, there was a soldier.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if this makes you sad

                There was once a child named Severus Tobias Snape. He was a sickly boy, covered in bruises and scrapes that the rags he wore couldn’t completely cover. He was friends with a young girl named Lily Evans, who was kind and sweet enough to appreciate him.

As a child, Severus had three reasons to live; his mother, Lily, and Hogwarts. He had been hearing stories about Hogwarts for years, whispered in hushed voices from his mother while his father was gone or passed out on the couch. While he was present and awake, he didn’t like talk about magic. Severus hoped that one day, he could go to Hogwarts with Lily and become someone good, happy, and maybe even strong. His father didn’t think Severus was strong, though…

                Once, there was a young boy named Snivellus, or, that’s what he sometimes believed his name to be. He was an unattractive boy, too tall and thin, and didn’t bother to keep up his hygiene. It didn’t really matter when three boys would cover you in something new every day, did it?

As a young boy, Snivellus had two reasons to live; Lily and his mother. Hogwarts proved itself to be nothing but a different hell than his house, and the people there hated him, disliked him, or didn’t care about him. The only person at Hogwarts who defied this was Lily. The marauders were a constant sign of failure for Snivellus, they tore up his homework and messed up his spell casting, Snivellus was afraid they would mess up his chances of being somebody after graduation.

                Once, there was a teenager named The Half Blood Prince. Prince looked like a ghost of what a teenager would normally look like, shallow cheeks, dark eyes, and pale skin. Prince felt like he shouldn’t blame Remus for what happened, but if Remus had stopped his friends earlier, like a prefect was supposed to, the “pranks” would never have gone so far. He felt like he had no one left to blame.

As a teenager, Prince had one reason to live; Lily Evans. A beautiful young girl, Prince was smitten with her, hoping that their friendship could go farther one day. However, despite his hopes, he knew quite well he would never be good enough for her. He simply wasn’t attractive, kind, or creative enough to match her fire. He knew that, no matter how much he hated it, she would leave him behind one day. Prince also knew that that day was almost upon them.

                Once, there was a young man named Snape. Fresh out of the hell known as Hogwarts, Snape was Britain’s youngest potion master, and he was quite proud of this. However, the war between the light side and the Dark Lord was blazing all around them, and Snape wasn’t too happy to have a dark mark on his arm. He wanted an escape in Hogwarts, as it was a desperate attempt to be somebody, but Snape soon decided that being nobody was better than being somebody bad. Knowing this, he acted on his mistakes and joined forces with Albus Dumbledore.

As a young man, Snape had one reason to live; the war. Albus had convinced Snape that being a spy was a good idea, and if Snape could do anything to even marginally balance out his sins, he was satisfied. For now, he was useful. However, he knew that as soon as his worth ended and dropped back to nothing, he would have to do something. Snape knew quite well that he was forever marked a Death Eater in the eyes of society, but he wasn’t yet ready to accept that in order to have a job, he would have to be the potions professor at Hogwarts for the rest of his days. Snape saw this job as nothing, and decided that after the war, he could not regain usefulness. Snape began looking at poisons with interest.

                Once, there was a man named Professor Snape. Though he was only thirty-two, his eyes showed him to be near his seventies. The man was young, yet old. A part of him hated himself for being so terrible to the children, especially the two Gryffindor orphans, but the larger part of him that screamed vengeance squashed the doubting voice every time it surfaced. This side, he noted, was the side that was still a Death Eater. Perhaps those four boys were right to beat him down?

As a man, Professor Snape had one reason to live; Harry Potter. The dark mark had not gone away after the Dark Lord’s fall, and Albus and Professor Snape were sure he was still alive. If the professor simply stayed around to make sure the idiot boy didn’t kill himself by accident, then he would stay alive long enough to really destroy the Dark Lord. Only then, would Professor Snape be free to finally leave his ruins behind.

                Once, there was a spy named Severus. Severus was a child wrapped inside a soldier. In multiple attempts to redeem himself, he had saved and healed multiple people personally, and had saved hundreds more indirectly through his spying work. He fought as hard as he could in battles for the light, and as weakly as he could for the Dark Lord and still get away with it.  Severus was sad Harry Potter was maturing into a weapon; almost as much as he was glad about it.

As a spy, Severus had four reasons to live; Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Albus Dumbledore, and the war. Severus knew that he had to stay until the war was over, truly over. He had to stay so that he could help Harry along on his journey to kill the Dark Lord, he felt the need to give Draco the future that his father had thrown away for him. Albus had begged Severus to live on after the war, told him that he deserved a life, and Severus simply couldn’t disappoint him. Not after so many years of exceeding his expectations. Severus had so much to live for, after all.

                There is a ghost known as the dark man. He does not speak, nor has ever given his name. The other ghosts only look upon him sadly as they move away from him. He doesn’t haunt anything in particular, simply wanders the world.

Those who have seen him say he simply mutters that he finally had things to live for.


End file.
